Review: Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen

Favorite Quote: “Hey Bingley.”“Yes, miss?”“Can you give Nate a message for me?”“Voice or text?” “Uh, text. Tell him Rebecca sends her congratulations.”“Certainly, my dear. Are we adding any emojis?”“No, because we’re not twelve.”“Noted.”

Reviewed by Tori

You’d think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade would satisfy a guy. You’d be wrong.For seven years Rebecca has brightened my office with her wit and her smile. She manages both my hockey team and my sanity. I don’t know when I started waking in the night, craving her. All I know is that one whiff of her perfume ruins my concentration. And her laugh makes me hard. When Rebecca gets hurt, I step in to help. It’s what friends do. But what friends don’t do is rip off each others’ clothes for a single, wild night together.

Now she’s avoiding me. She says we’re too different, and it can never happen again. So why can’t we keep our hands off each other? (Goodreads)

Nate and Becca have been together seven years. Their relationship is complicated; they are not only close friends but also employer/employee. Nate’s feelings for Becca have deepened over the years but his innate shyness and fear of rejection has kept him quiet. When Becca hits her head on the ice and her concussion morphs into something more serious, Nate decides to take the bull by the horns and finally make his true feelings known to her. He invites her into his home to recuperate and one thing leads to bed and a night of wild, passionate, soul-scorching sex. Only, Becca runs away from Nate rather than to him.

Becca has always been attracted to Nate but buried it since she worked for him and he had a fiancee. From the moment he hired her as a receptionist in his fledgling company, she has been his right hand; his gal Friday. And she thought he’d been happy with her until he moved her from being his PA in Manhattan to Chicago to be the PA for his newly purchased hockey team-The Brooklyn Bruisers. Feeling like she had been demoted, she struggled to maintain her objectivity while wondering what she did wrong. Nate’s offer to help Becca when she injures herself is a life saver. Being with Nate in his home awakens the feelings she buried years ago. She lets go only to awaken scared and unsure. She worries her lack of status, wealth, and education makes her more a gold digger than a girlfriend. Plus, she is scared that if something were to happen between them, she’d not only lose her job but also her best friend.

“I’m the quirky fun girl at the office who […] can always find you a dinner reservation. I’m never the one the reservation is for.”

Fans of Sarina Bowen’s Brooklyn Bruisers series have waited a long time for this particular couple’s story. Throughout the series, Bowen has fanned the flames of this forbidden attraction between Nate and Becca slowly while dropping little hints of what was to come. Always seen through the eyes of a 3rd person, it was definitely interesting to finally get this couple’s pov. Bowen’s signature humor and spicy dialogue dot the landscape as Becca and Nate attempt to navigate the new dimensions of their relationship. This story takes place simultaneously with book three-Pipe Dreams.

While I liked finally getting their story, I wasn’t blown away by it. A large part of that is the fact was the incredible fandom build up of their story. I ended up over-hyping myself and I didn’t get the emotional satisfaction I was counting on. The first 65% or so is old territory; we already saw it happen. And even seeing it from two completely different POVs doesn’t stop it from feeling recycled. There was also the matter of their lack of communication. They have known each other for seven years, often working side by side well into the night. That in itself should have created a sense of intimacy that transcends the normal employer/employee boundaries. Yet, for reasons unknown, neither of them can be verbally honest with each other until it’s almost too late.

Bowen bounces from past to present as she shows us how Becca and Nate first met and gives readers an in-depth look into certain fade to black scenes from earlier in the series. It goes far into establishing a true connection with them. Some steamy sex scenes and dirty talk assure us this couple is compatible both in and out of bed. Interaction with the team and the various employees affiliated with them is always fun and provides some much need distraction from the melodrama. We also meet a few new personalities who were very entertaining. Becca’s assistant is a hoot and I hope we see more of her in the future.

The ending is just as imagined. Our couple gets over the last of their many misunderstandings to finally unite when faced with controversy. A controversy that is born from one of the two external conflicts introduced towards the end. Neither of which truly serve no real purpose. Especially the one revolving around Nate’s best friend from college. Luckily, we are placated with a fun little epilogue at the end that shows our couple five years down the road.

Regardless of my lack of warmth for this novella, I remain a huge fan of this series and can’t wait to find out who the next Brooklyn Bruiser is to score. I hope it’s Castro. *crosses fingers*